Dating, Millennial Style
by CatLikesTea
Summary: Draco tries online dating... And finds someone unexpected. Written for Ravenclaw in the Houses Competition, ONE-SHOT, please review :)


House: Ravenclaw  
Category: Themed (deception)  
Prompt: Going on a date  
Word count: 2145

It's a muggle au :)

Dating, Millennial Style

Trying out the online dating app hadn't been a huge success, Draco realized, as he thought back to the previous few weeks he had spent analysing people's profiles to work out whether they were real people or not. Then there were the numerous times his dates just hadn't shown up, and the times they had, they just hadn't been… as he'd expected. He'd almost considered deleting the app after being catfished by _Pansy_ of all people, but Theo had convinced him to give it one more chance. Just one, mind you - then he was getting rid of the app for good.

He was slightly afraid of accidentally meeting with someone from school - everyone who was anyone had downloaded the app, ever since Saint Potter had bragged about finding a girlfriend with its help. Pathetic. Draco had been much opposed to the idea of finding love online, but his best friends Theo and Blaise had insisted.

Well, it was worth a shot.

He logged on to the app and went straight to his messages. He deleted all the ones he knew were from Pansy and clicked on the most recent.

RedLion: Hey, I lost my phone number. Can I have yours? ;)

Draco shook his head at the forwardness of the message and tapped out a reply. The response was almost instantaneous.

GreenDragon: Your originality astounds me.

RedLion: Okay, let me try again. Do you smoke pot? Because weed be cute together.

GreenDragon: That was pretty good, not gonna lie.

RedLion: Okay great! So, wanna meet up?

GreenDragon: Woah woah woah, hold your horses! We don't know each other's names, or ages, or… I don't know, you could live in Australia for all I know.

RedLion: Well, I don't know about you, but I actually check people's profiles before I message them. Your name is Draco, you're seventeen years old, you live in England and got to the same school as me.

Draco stared at his screen in disbelief. They went to the same school?

GreenDragon: Do I know you in real life?

Draco clicked on RedLion's profile. The picture was blurry and Draco found it impossible to tell who it was of.

Name: Robert

Age: Seventeen

Hobbies and interests: Well, I play on the school Rugby Team… And the football team. Sports is great.

What I look for in a girlfriend: Correction: Boyfriend. I swear, when I signed up to this app I put my sexuality at least twice.

Location: That's a bit creepy, isn't it? England is my city.

A notification from Robert popped up and Draco clicked on it hesitantly.

RedLion: I don't think we know each other. Well. I've seen you a few times around school and you're pretty cute ;);)

A blush spread across Draco's cheeks. It felt weird having a random stranger tell him he looked cute. Weird, but nice.

GreenDragon: Well, I'm sure you'd be cute as well if your profile picture wasn't so blurry. Seriously though, how do I know you're a real person and not a serial killer?

RedLion: I guess you're just going to have to trust me. So, coffee?

.

The next day at school, Robert was all Draco could think about. After their conversation the previous night, they had arranged to meet up after school. Draco hated the fact he had arranged to meet someone so soon after texting them, after being so against it before, but it was only a meet-up, he reminded himself. Not a date. Not that he wanted it to be… Did he?

Blaise and Theo looked amused as he sat down at their usual table for lunch.

"Someone looks very happy," Theo grinned. "So, any news with the dating app you were _sure_ wasn't going to work out?"

So they knew something had happened then.

"What would you know?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe I did what normal people do and found myself a date _without_ technology."

Blaise sighed. "Quit playing around and just tell us who it is. We know you used the app, your status on there is no longer single."

He's forgotten he'd done that. So much for it not being a date.

He shrugged. "I don't know them in real life. But whoever it is, they're awesome," he stated dreamily, trying to think if he knew anyone named Robert. The other two looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Mate," Theo grinned, fondly. "You should see that look on your face."

"You're totally whipped," Blaise continued, chuckling when Draco glared at him. "After what, one conversation?"

"So much for not rushing into love," Theo added.

Draco scowled, and at the look on his face, the two were once again howling with laughter.

.

The time was twenty-five minutes past four, and Draco was sitting alone in Starbucks, nervously waiting for Robert to arrive. His cappuccino had long since gone cold, as he had arrived almost an hour earlier.

He looked at his watch. Four twenty-six. What if Robert didn't show up? Of course, it had happened before, but Robert had seemed so nice over text.

A couple of minutes later, someone dropped into the seat next to him, and Draco looked up, startled.

"Potter?" He asked, surprised. The boy in question grinned.

"Mind if I join you? Well, I'm here now so I may as well stay."

Draco looked him up and down. Potter was wearing a pair of black jeans and a shirt, which was nice, considering his usual attire was normally a grubby old t-shirt and jeans with holes. It looked as if he had even brushed his hair… Or at least attempted to. It was still reasonably messy, but hung down in curls which framed his face rather nicely, Draco thought. Potter had always been one of the most attractive looking blokes in the school (although he would never admit it out loud) but when he actually put in a bit of effort... Again, Draco would never admit it, but Potter looked _hot_.

Draco shook his head of that thought as his confusion quickly turned to anger. He had a date in a few minutes and he didn't need Potter messing with him.

"Well actually, I do mind. That space is reserved."

"Merlin Draco, we aren't in primary school!" Potter shook his head.

'He called me Draco,' thought Draco. 'He never calls me Draco.'

"So who's it reserved for then?" Potter asked.

Suddenly, Draco felt embarrassed at the idea of explaining the whole online dating thing. "I have a date," he mumbled, vaguely.

Potter stared at him for what seemed like forever. Then he burst into huge guffaws and Draco was left sitting there, wondering why everyone seemed to be laughing at him today.

Potter looked up at him through teary eyes. "A date? With RedLion, right?"

Draco's mouth dropped open. "How did you know?"

"Because that's _me_. _I'm_ RedLion."

Draco went quiet. How could Potter be RedLion? They were deadly enemies after all, and if he had remembered correctly, this was a date. Unless… This was all just a prank Potter had cooked up so he could laugh about it later to his friends.

"You pretended your name was Robert, so you could get me to talk about myself, didn't you? Then the plan was to get me to come here so you could make me look like a fool when I realize it's just one huge joke?"

Potter's eyes widened and he shook his head frantically. "That's not it, Draco! I wanted to meet up with you, I really did. I just didn't think you'd agree to meet up with me if you knew who I was," Potter said, looking sheepish. "Look, if you want, we can just forget about… Well, whatever this is. He moved to stand up, but Draco grabbed his hand and pulled him back down gently.

"So it wasn't just a prank?"

Potter shook his head.

"I thought… Never mind. I thought you hated me, that's all," Draco muttered.

"I thought you hated me too. That's why I had to pretend to be someone else to get a date with you."

"Why me though? You're Harry Potter. You have your pick of pretty much anyone in the school."

Potter chuckled under his breath. "Because you're Draco Malfoy, the prettiest boy in the school."

Draco tilted his head to one side. "You think I'm pretty?

Potter gaped at him. "Everyone in the school thinks- no, _knows_ you're pretty! Surely you must know that?"

It was Draco's turn to gape. That was news to him, though the most shocking thing was that _Harry Potter_ , his sworn enemy thought he was _pretty_. The thought made him blush slightly, but he ducked his head so Potter wouldn't see.

He didn't even know Potter was into blokes. Suddenly Draco remembered something. Didn't Potter have a girlfriend?

"Hang on a minute. Potter-"

"You can call me Harry."

This took Draco by surprise and he nervously tugged on his sleeve as he fumbled over his words. "O-okay, Pot- sorry, Harry."

Harry smiled at the embarrassment of the other boy. 'He is just too adorable', he thought.

Draco soon composed himself and coughed into his hands, as an excuse to turn his head away to hide his once again flushed face.

"As I was saying, Harry, don't you have a girlfriend?"

Harry raised one eyebrow, confused. "Um, I don't think so?"

"But you said you did- remember? You met her on that dating app thing.

A look of amusement spread across Harry's face. "Oh, that was only to make you download the app. I did a way better job than I initially thought though, because I'm pretty sure the entire school has the app now. I didn't think so many people would actually buy into it."

"Are you kidding? They're like some kind of crazed fan club, every one of them! They hang onto your every word and pretty much copy everything you do. It's kind of scary now I think about it."

"Wait, why would they want to copy me?" Harry wondered aloud, looking genuinely bewildered.

"Pot- Harry, you're like the most popular person in the school!"

Harry frowned. "No I'm not!"

Draco sighed. He wasn't going to get anywhere with this conversation. "Fine, but if you don't believe me, do something weird tomorrow. Like wearing socks and sandals. Or a top hat. They won't laugh at you, they'll believe you when you say it's the latest fashion. Then, surprise surprise, the next day you have a school full of Harry Potter wannabes wearing socks and sandals."

Harry was looking at him like he was mad. "You're kidding me. You're not serious, right?"

Draco sighed in mock-sadness, but he couldn't keep himself from grinning. "It's a weird, weird world out there."

"So," Harry gave him a lopsided grin that had his stomach turning cartwheels. "How d'you think they'd react if I turned up at school with a boyfriend?"

"Well, they'd probably make endless comments on how cute you two are, then ask for said boyfriends autograph," Draco said, half joking, half deadly serious.

"How cute _we_ are, you mean."

Draco's face lit up. "Are you suggesting…?"

"Of course. Draco, be my boyfriend and confuse the crap out of everyone at school with me?"

"It would be my honour," Draco laughed, suddenly feeling very light-headed. He couldn't really believe this was actually happening. It was madness… And yet he couldn't wait.

.

Nothing could have prepared Draco for what he saw the following morning. It was horrifying, it was scarring, it was-

"Socks with sandals Potter? Are you trying to blind me here?"

"I thought I told you, it's Harry!" The boy was grinning from ear to ear as he walked up to Draco.

"Take them off right now, or I won't be your boyfriend anymore. I can't be seen with someone with such… such a horrendous taste in fashion!"

Harry pouted. "It was your idea!"

"Personally, I was hoping you'd go for the top hat."

"But don't they look good on me?"

Draco was about to reply when a younger student came up to Harry.

"My friend says your socks and sandals look really pretty," she whispered, before running off to join a girl who had gone as red as a tomato.

"See, they look great, Harry, smirked, doing a small victory dance.

Draco fought back laughter at how ridiculous Harry and his fan club were. "Okay then," He sighed grabbing Harry's hand. "If you say so."

Needless to say, the next day, the school was filled to the brim with many unfashionable members of the Potter fan club who thought socks with sandals were now socially acceptable.

It was okay though - to make up for such a horrendous sight, Draco now had something he never knew he needed.

Harry Potter himself.

The end.


End file.
